saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on May 8, 2019 8:37:32 GMT -5
All,
I’ve been having good success with the lot-o but I do have a generic question regarding the first stage with 120/220 (I bought from TRS).
I have been having some issues getting a full 24hr with this stage due to movement just being too sludgy and slowing down to the point I’m worried about chipping etc. No amount of water fixes this. I never start first stage unless I’m home for 12-18 hrs because it does need frequent attention to keep rolling at a good pace. However no attention seems to alleviate the 18-30 hr mark. I can almost never make it 36-48 hrs so I just don’t.
Is this common for others? Just curious. Just this morning I took out the contest rocks after only 21-22 hrs. I couldn’t get them to roll at all past this time.
Thanks ahead, Grant
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Post by grumpybill on May 8, 2019 10:05:13 GMT -5
My experience has been the same as yours. When it becomes difficult to keep the stones moving, I do a quick rinse without dumping the stones out, then recharge with 220 and run for a while longer.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on May 8, 2019 10:31:59 GMT -5
My experience has been the same as yours. When it becomes difficult to keep the stones moving, I do a quick rinse without dumping the stones out, then recharge with 220 and run for a while longer. Hmm. I don’t continue the stage at that point. Figure 120/220 broke down into 240/440 and in my mind I don’t want to add more 120. Thanks for info
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Post by Jugglerguy on May 8, 2019 11:38:41 GMT -5
I have had rocks dry out completely because the lid has popped off. In fact, this just happened with my latest batch of puddingstones. I had some larger that usual rocks in the batch and one pushed the lid off, even though it was secured wiht a rubber band. One rock was actually on the floor. The slurry was bone dry. I started squirting water in gradually and got it moving again. I have never not been able to get it rolling with water. I never pour in water, but give it a few squirts at a time and wait for it to distribute before squirting more.
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Post by grumpybill on May 8, 2019 12:06:23 GMT -5
Hmm. I don’t continue the stage at that point. I guess I should have specified that I don't always recharge and continue. It depends on how long the batch has been running, how soft the material is and how smooth the stones look.
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Post by aDave on May 8, 2019 15:24:52 GMT -5
Mine varies, so I'm sure it's dependent on the rocks and what's being taken off. I'm using 120/220, and I've been tempted to try 220 to possibly help with not as much material being removed. Sometimes squirts of water help, and sometimes just turning the barrel over and shaking it helps break stuff loose. Turning over the barrel also helps with removing excess water if I've ended up using too much to get stuff moving.
The worst rocks for me were some condor agate halves that I just finished. The matrix/rind was really soft, and things got thick rather quickly. Shaking and water didn't help, so I ended up doing cleanouts after about the first 12 hours. So much mud had gathered at the bottom of the barrel that with the ceramics, an aggregate had essentially formed at the bottom of the barrel which pretty much stopped all movement. From there, I just started over and was able to get 48 hours out of the stage.
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JBe
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2019
Posts: 103
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Post by JBe on May 9, 2019 16:30:43 GMT -5
I've been tumbling in a Lot-O continuously for about six months now. I have the same thing happen with the 120/220 stage. Sometimes a spritz of water will get things moving again but sometimes it requires a full rinse. Depending on how the stones look after the initial 120/220 run I'll, more often than not, just move them on to 500 grit. This never happens with any other stage unless I completely ignore it for a couple days (which never happens!).
I've personally found that letting the 500 grit stage go for a few days and then jumping to 14k AO for final polish gives me pretty great results.
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Post by aDave on May 9, 2019 19:57:57 GMT -5
Grant saxplayer, I'll ask the obvious. Are you using Borax in this stage? If so, eliminate it. If not, disregard my question.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on May 9, 2019 23:09:37 GMT -5
Grant saxplayer , I'll ask the obvious. Are you using Borax in this stage? If so, eliminate it. If not, disregard my question. Thanks for asking - I only use Borax for AO500 and Polish (or AO1000 if I do that stage). 1 TBL for each stage there, and 2 TBL for borax cleaning after polish. No borax for 120/220. Thanks everyone for their input. My take-away so far is that the 120/220 stage is a bit finicky. Getting past the 24 hr mark isn't that rare due to stoppate and may require a full rinse out.
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Post by aDave on May 10, 2019 12:22:43 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for their input. My take-away so far is that the 120/220 stage is a bit finicky. Getting past the 24 hr mark isn't that rare due to stoppate and may require a full rinse out. Funny you brought this up. I'm about 18 hours into this stage right now, and I think I'm going to have to fight it a bit to keep it moving. I'm at the point of it still moving, albeit slowly. It looks wet, but it's still hard for me to tell if more water will do the trick. I may have to do a partial rinse and let it continue. BTW, I've been using 1 2/3 TBSP of grit just to help with this issue, but it's still a bit hit or miss. ETA: Well, I got to the point where I wasn't happy with movement, so I squirted a fair amount of water to where I'd know there was too much for good circulation of material. I removed the barrel from the frame and drained it into a bucket (covered the opening with my hand, just like when starting a batch). A fair amount of brown water ran out, and I ended up replacing the barrel and started it again. Stuff is now moving much, much better. Since the rocks had a good film of slurry, I didn't add more grit.
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Post by grumpybill on May 10, 2019 18:10:06 GMT -5
The instructions that came with my Lot-O say to do a partial rinse and recharge after 12 hrs of the 120/220 stage. But that may be assuming that the stones hadn't been run through a course/rotary stage, and the fresh grit is needed to help smooth them.
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Post by grumpybill on May 10, 2019 18:12:33 GMT -5
... (covered the opening with my hand, just like when starting a batch)... Get a metal tea strainer from a dollar store. The convex side of the one I have fits perfectly into the Lot-O opening.
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raunchy
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2019
Posts: 4
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Post by raunchy on May 12, 2019 21:53:24 GMT -5
I tumble mostly agate and Jasper in my lot-o. I have found that I do need to do a rinse and recharge at least every 12 hours with 120/220. I worry about wasting grit but if I let it go it gets too sticky and stops rolling. I found out that it leaves rub pock marks on the rocks when that happens. I bought a 7" Skil diamond blade tile saw to preform the Agates before I tumble, I'm shaping and beveling to make "tumbler cabs" I don't want to mess up the shape.
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